Window-cleaner.



L. F. BRIGGS.

WINDOW CLEANER. APPLICATION FILED Arms, 1914.

1,1 30,566, Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

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LESLIE F. BRIGGS, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

wINDow-cLEANER.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Application fllee April 6, 1914. Serial No. 829,964.

To all whom it may concern This invention relates to .window cleaning apparatus rspecially designed for cleaning the outer surfaces of window panes without getting out of the window.

One object of the present invention is to provide cleaning apparatus of the character described which may be readily adjusted to fit different sizes of windows and may be quickly attached and detached without marring the window frame orsash.

Another object isto reduce the friction due to the operation of the device, and still another object is to increase the efficiency of the cleaning tool in its operation upon the window pane.

Further objects will appear as the description proceeds. The invention will first be hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then more specifically defined in the claims at the end of the description.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters are corresponding parts :Figure 1 is a front elevation of the cleaning apparatus asit appears before it is attached to a window.

3 is a broken sectional view showing how.

the upper end of the cleaning apparatus is attached to the window when the upper sash is to be cleaned. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cleaning tool and the frame which carries the same, the guide bar of the apparatus being indicated in section. Fig. 5 is a detail plan View of the bracket which is adjustably secured to the guide bar and is designed for attaching the upper end of the cleaning apparatus to the window, the guide bar being here again shown in section, and Fig. 6 is a detail of one of the sprocket wheels and chains used for equalizing the pressure exerted by the cleaning tool in operation.

used throughout the several views to designate Referring moreparticularly to the draW- ings, A designates the base of the cleaner, and B the guide bar which extends upward from said base. The base may preferably be made of metal and the guide bar of hard wood. The base is also preferably made box-shaped and open at the bottom, the lower end of the guide bar being secured in any suitable manner to the top of said box near the center thereof. On the front of the box there is a rigid loop C having its main portion extending parallel to said front and covered with rubber tubing or other suitable cushioning material, as at 0, Figs. 1 and 2. Below said loop, the front of the box is perforated, at a, a, for the passage of the operating'cords D, D which are used to reciprocate the cleaning tool presently described. Within the box or base a pair of pulleys or sheaves cl are mounted for guiding the cords D, D; and also a pair of sprocket wheels 6 for sprocket chains E hereinafter referred to. The base is attached to the lower edge of the sash by means of a clamp F, one arm of which is inserted into said base from be.- low,- 'as shown in Fig. 2, while the other arm carries a set screw f having a padded tip f adapted to engage the inner face of the sash for clamping the latter against the cushioned loop C. Thus the cleaning apparatus may be secured to the bottom of the sash without marring the same.

The upper end portion of the cleaner is attached to the sash without any clamp, by means of a vertical thin metal plate G mounted on a pair of horizontal rods 9 ad justably secured to a collar H which in turn is adjustably fastened to the standard or guide bar B. This plate G extends both above and below the rods 9 and is designed to have either its upper or lower extending portion inserted between rails of the two sashes. When the lower sash is to be cleaned, the upper extending portion of the plate G is inserted between the meeting rails,

as shown in Fig. 2. When the upper sash thickness of the rails of the sash being cleaned according to whether the plate is I said collar around the guide bar B at any point. As shown, the collar H comprises a plate 71, to the under surface of which the rods 9 are adjustably secured, and which is provided with an opening near the center. The material cut from the plate to form this opening is not severed from the plate at the ends of the opening but bentv up, as at 71 so as to lie along either edge of the guide bar B which passes through said opening. Strap members h are bent to fit around said edges of the guide bar and to include the lugs 72. and the set screws h connect the adjacent ends of said strap members for clamping the lugs h against the edges of the guide bar,

- see Figs. 2, 3 and 5. The upper ends of said lugs are bent out away from the edges of the guide bar, as seen at h, Fig. 5, in order to hold the strap members to the plate [a when the former are loosened for moving the collar along the guide bar.

It will be noted that the construction just described provides means for readily attaching the cleaner to the upper edge of the sash being cleaned without marring the sash in the least, and that it also provides for quickly adjusting the cleaner to fit difierent sizes of sashes.

The cleaning tool K consists of a suitable metal frame to which a cloth or other cleaning material is, Fig. 2, may be removably attached. Said tool is attached by coiled or spiral springs L to a carriage frame M, two springs being preferably used, the same being securedto the lower portion of the frame near either end thereof. These springs permit the tool to yield in all directions.

The carriage frame M is provided with rollers bearing on the edges and sides of the guide bar 13, as best illustrated at N, Fig. 4:, whereby friction due to the reciprocation of the carriage along the guide bar is largely eradicated. The end portions of the carriage frame are open and through them are passed the sprocket chains E here inbefore referred to. These chains pass under the sprocket wheels 6 in the base, and over sprocket wheels e carried by a bracket P at the upper end ofthe guide bar B. The front bight of each of the chains is secured to the carriage frame M, as at R, Fig. 4, by rivets or other suitable means.

The operating cords D, D, heretofore referred to as passing through the perforations a, a in the front of the base and over the pulleys or sheaves (2, pass up through the top of the base, the cord D being secured to the lower edge of the carriage, while the cord D is passed over apulley S on the collar H and attached to the upper edge of the carriage. It will thus be seen that by pulling the cord D the carriage and cleaning tool will be moved downward on the guide bar, and that by pulling the cord D said carriage and cleaning tool will be moved upward along said guide bar. It will be understood that the cords D, D extend into the room, as indicated in Fig. 2, so that the cleaner can be easily operated from the interior.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the clamp F may be attached to the base of the cleaner by a cord or other flexible connection T secured to eyes If on the front of the base and passed loosely through an opening f in the end of the clamp. lln this way the clamp is always at hand and cannot be mislaid.

The sprocket chains serve to insure the even running of the carriage and the uniform pressure of the cleaning tool upon the window pane during the cleaning operation." Each time the carriage is pulled in one direction the chains constitute a drag in the opposite direction tending to prevent the carriage frame from slipping, turning or binding and to insure the cleaning tool bearing with uniform pressure at all points on its surface upon the surface of the win ably securing one end portion of said bar to a sash, means adjustable along said bar between its ends for attaching the other end portion thereof to the sash whereby said cleaner may be attached to sashes of various heights without altering the guide bar, a

carriage movable along the guide bar, and

a cleaning tool mounted on said carriage.

2. In a window cleaner of the character described, the combination with a guide bar and a cleaning tool movable along said bar, of means for detachably securing said bar to a sash including a thin plate carried by the bar and having upwardly and downwardly extending portions arranged in the same vertical plane and adapted to be inserted between rails of the two sashes of a window for the purpose specified.

3. In a window cleaner of the character described, the combination with a guide bar and a cleaning tool movable along said bar, of means for detachably securing said bar to a sash including a collar mounted on the bar, means for clamping the collar to the bar at any desired point, and a connecting iis device adapted to engage the sash and adjustable on said collar transversely of the bar. v

i. In Q window cleaner of the character described the combination With a guide bar and a cleaning tool-movable along said bar, of means for detachably securing said bar to a sash includin a collar mounted on the bar and comprlsing a plate having an opening through which the bar passes, there being lugs extending from the plate at the opposite edges of the bar, strap members fitted around the edges of the bar and including the lugs, means for clamping said strap'member for fastening the collar at any LESLIE F. BRIGGS.

Witnesses:

L. G. DELA PARRA, WM. M. CHRISTIE. 

